History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 103 The hard-working scholar Wei Yao

Zong Yin was speechless. He had never seen a woman with such a scholarly air. In the candlelight, she held a scroll vertically in one hand and a brush horizontally in the other, composed and serene, like a goddess in a painting.

Hu Wuwu finally squeezed through to the side of Wei Yao, her feet planted in a horse stance to prevent others from pushing her away. "I am Hu Wuwu, a page of the Poetry Society. Teacher Zhang sent me to help organize the notes."

Wei Yao glanced at the other person, smiled slightly, and declined: "I don't need you to organize what I wrote." Her shorthand became increasingly refined, and only she herself could correctly add words and sentences to expand on the content afterward.

"You lowly servant!" Hu Wuwu cursed inwardly but smiled outwardly. In any case, she would never leave this position once she had it.

When the children who were listening to Cui Zhi talk about poetry encountered something confusing, they raised their hands to ask Cui Zhi as instructed by the village chief. Taking advantage of this moment, Wei Yao took a few grasshoppers from the side and gave them to Hu Wuwu: "I can tell you want to help. Go over there and see which child is eager to learn, and reward him with a grasshopper."

"Oh." Hu Wuwu could only accept it. Well, she quickly skimmed over the line of words the other person had written. The meaning was very concise, and there was no use in taking it now. It was clear that this poor girl was quite cunning.

Hu Wuwu quickly won over the children, who eagerly wanted to play with her. The village chief, however, became unhappy and grabbed one of the children, slapping his bottom hard. This was exactly what Hu Wuwu wanted to achieve.

She playfully stuck out her tongue and handed the remaining grasshopper to a child. Since she couldn't get her notes, she was naturally going to listen carefully to Cui Zhi's explanation. A poor girl trying to make her do chores? Pah!

Feng Xing was captivated by the girl's lively and spirited nature, and asked his companion, "Didn't she say she was going to Luoyang?"

"With your taste, how can you like this kind of girl?" Zong Yin shook his head.

Feng Xing was displeased and retorted sarcastically, "It's still better than you, who likes poor girls."

"So what if she's from a poor family? How rich are you anyway? Besides, poor girls know poetry and can write a lot of words. Can you do that?"

Yuan Yi glanced back and forth between the two of them, growing more and more irritated as he listened: "Weren't we supposed to be out here to broaden our horizons? How did this turn into a pageant for girls? If you two keep acting like this, I can't bear the embarrassment. I'm going back to Pingcheng tomorrow!"

Near the end of the Xu hour, Cui Zhi finished lecturing on "The Black Robe".

Wei Yao stretched her wrists, preparing to continue writing the complete text. Cui Shang and Kong Yi carried a small desk out of the carriage so that Wei Yao could write at it, while Guo Yun also fetched two candles to add light. Wei Yao smiled and thanked her fellow disciples, while Zong Yin, sitting in the darkness a little further away, smiled along with her.

After the village chief and the children said goodbye, Bu Yanzhen and the other students from the primary school immediately surrounded Cui Zhi, asking him questions one after another. Although Cui Zhi was very tired, he patiently explained everything to everyone who asked.

Yuan Fan was very envious and sighed to Confucius, "When will the academic atmosphere in Luoyang be like this? The court discusses building a school in the south of the city every year, but His Majesty is away fighting wars all year round. Alas... This year is the fifth year since the capital was moved. Five years, five years!"

How many school-aged children can be delayed in five years!

What could Confucius say? Your Majesty's promotion of poetry, books, and rites during this chaotic era is already a blessing for all Confucian scholars. Is war wrong? To consolidate the new capital Luoyang, it is necessary to contend with the Southern Qi for the land north of the Yangtze River.

Scholars cannot only see their own suffering. Don't soldiers suffer? Don't farmers suffer? Don't weavers suffer?

late at night.

Wei Yao and her four female students shared a tent with Yuan Jingrong. After walking all day, the others were exhausted and had all fallen asleep. Fearing that the candlelight would disturb them, Wei Yao took a candle and came out, reciting her notes two steps away from the tent door.

The Great Hunt and this trip caused her to fall further and further behind in her studies. Moreover, she had a habit of reviewing what she had learned every day, and she felt that there was not enough time. So she squeezed time out of her sleep.

Xi Jiao brought over a lantern, placed it beside her, and whispered, "A dim lamp will hurt your eyes." Then she walked away.

Not long after, Yuanzi passed by carrying a candle lantern, glanced at Wei Yao, and continued his patrol ahead. The men had already divided up their tasks, with two men patrolling the camp every hour to prevent the night servants from slacking off and sleeping in.

But Yuan Zizhi didn't expect that when he handed over his post, Miss Wei was still reading! He couldn't help but come over and ask, "Aren't you sleepy?"

Wei Yao whispered back to him, "Just wash your face with cold water."

Yuanzi grinned, wondering if he was being asked to teach him the method. Well, he couldn't possibly go through that level of hard work.

If Wei Yao hadn't experienced the deep regret of abandoning her studies in her previous life, and hadn't understood how much hatred could come from that regret, she wouldn't have been able to do it either.

Besides, there are too few ordinary people among the scholars. In the future, she will have to compete with so many scholars from powerful and wealthy families. Being her mentor's direct disciple alone won't be enough. She needs real skills! She needs to have truly read extensively!
Before dawn, the piercing crowing of roosters woke the sleeping students.

Yuan Heng angrily flung open the tent flap: "Where did that rooster's crow come from?"

Yuan Ning pushed him aside: "Didn't you know? The village chief brought a gift for Confucius yesterday." "We're going to have to pull chickens all the way? There's no room in the cart!"

"Are you stupid? Giving us food!"

The sun rises, and smoke rises from the chimneys.

Wei Yao drank two bowls of chicken soup. It was so delicious, and it completely made up for all the fatigue she had felt the night before.

"Your bowl." Yuan Jingrong gestured for Wei Yao to hand over the bowl. She picked up an egg from her own bowl and gave it to Wei Yao, saying with disdain, "I don't want to eat this in the morning."

Wei Yao stared at the chicken leg in the other person's bowl. "If you don't want to either..."

With a snap, Yuan Jingrong turned the chicken leg over as well.

"I don't want to eat this either."

Wei Yao smiled and whispered, "Thank you, Miss Xie Yuan."

"Tch." Yuan Jingrong felt a surge of satisfaction at being needed, and because of this, she looked at the servant who was scooping rice with utter disgust! He was really bullying people. Everyone else had meat in their bowls, but Wei Yao's bowl only had clear soup.

When the students set off, it was already broad daylight.

The scenery along the road today lacked the novelty of yesterday. Liu Zhenzhu and Cui Wanwan both had blisters on their feet and spent most of their time sitting on the car floor.

Hu Wuwu and Xing Hang, the two pageboys, followed closely behind the Xunyi School procession. Their feet were also aching, and at this point, the difference became apparent: no matter how badly they were hurting, there was no oxcart to ride in.

Hu Wuwu grumbled in a private room, "A pageboy is also a student. How is he any worse than the students at Cui Academy?"

Xing Hang remained silent. Ever since she was used by Hu Wuwu before setting off yesterday, she had become more cautious. Upon closer examination, any answer to the question asked by the other party would be wrong.

But Hu Wuwu had plenty of tricks up his sleeve: "You also think we're no worse than them, right?"

Xing Hang had no choice but to speak up: "I didn't say that."

"Oh? You really think our servants are inferior to these students?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Fellow disciple Xing, what's wrong? Are you tired? Hehe, wait for me."

"Hey?"

Hu Wuwu broke free from Xing Hang's grasp and ran towards Wei Yao and the others, asking, "I am Hu Wuwu, a pageboy. I spoke with the young lady yesterday. Another pageboy in our poetry club has a leg ache and can barely walk. Could she ride in the oxcart for a while? Just for a short time."

Guo Yun looked back and asked, "Is it that young lady?"

"Yes."

"Let her come."

Cui Wanwan has a round face, round eyes, and a round nose. She looks innocent and cute even when she's not smiling. She praised, "This Huwu House is quite good at taking care of people."

Hu Wuwu ran back by herself. She almost twisted her ankle because she was running so fast. She explained apologetically, "Never mind, she's shy and embarrassed to come over." After saying that, she walked back with a slight limp.

Liu Zhenzhu called out to her, "How can you walk like that? Come on up."

The "Gaoyangwang Temple" chapter of the "Records of Buddhist Temples in Luoyang" (Southern City Volume) records that in the early years of the Zheng Guang era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (520-525), a thirteen-year-old Confucian scholar named Xun Ziwen lived in the south of the city. When a Confucian teacher in the east of the city lectured on the "Fu Shi Chunqiu," Xun Ziwen had to go to the east of the city to attend the lectures. This record shows that, at least during the Zheng Guang era, official schools in Luoyang were still not prevalent.

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(End of this chapter)